[Grovenet] A Different Christmas Poem

[AumaMarie at aol.com]

The  embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, 
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. 
My wife was asleep, her head on my  chest, 
My daughter beside me,  angelic in rest. 
Outside the snow  fell, a blanket of white, 
Transforming the yard to a winter delight. 
The sparkling lights in the tree I  believe, 
Completed the magic that  was Christmas Eve.
 

My  eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, 
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. 
In perfect contentment, or so it would  seem, 
So I slumbered, perhaps I  started to dream. 

The  sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, 
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. 
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite  know, Then the 
sure sound of  footsteps outside in the snow. 
My  soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, 
And I crept to the door just to see who was near. 
Standing out in the cold and the dark of  the night, 
A lone figure stood, his  face weary and tight. 

A  soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, 
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold. 
Alone in the dark, he looked up and  smiled, 
Standing watch over me, and  my wife and my child. 
'What are you  doing?' I asked without fear, 
'Come  in this moment, it's freezing out here! 
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, 
You should be at home on a cold  Christmas Eve!' 

For  barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, 
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.. 
To the window that danced with a warm  fire's light 
Then he sighed and he  said 'Its really all right, 
I'm out  here by choice. I'm here every night.' 'It's my duty
 
to  stand at the front of the line, That separates you from
 
the  darkest of times.
 

No  one had to ask or beg or implore me, 
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me. 
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in  December,' 
Then he sighed, 'That's  a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.' 
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ', 
And now it is my turn and so, here I  am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while, 
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure  got her smile. 

Then  he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, 
The red, white, and blue... an American flag. 
I can live through the cold and the  being alone, 
Away from my family,  my house and my home. 
I can stand  at my post through the rain and the sleet, 
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat. 
I can carry the weight of killing  another, 
Or lay down my life with  my sister and brother.. 
Who stand  at the front against any and all, 
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.'
 
'So  go back inside,' he said, 'harbor no fright, 
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right.'
 
'But  isn't there something I can do, at the least, 
'Give you money,' I asked, 'or prepare you a feast? 
It seems all too little for all that  you've done, 
For being away from  your wife and your son.' 
Then his  eye welled a tear that held no regret, 
'Just  tell us you love us, and never forget. 
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, 
To stand your own watch, no matter how  long. 
For when we come home, either  standing or dead, 
To know you  remember we fought and we bled. 
Is  payment enough, and with that we will trust, 
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.'
 

PLEASE,  Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as 
you can?  Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our 
U.S.service men and  women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's 
try in this small  way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and 
think of our heroes,  living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us. 

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN 
30th Naval Construction Regiment 
OIC, Logistics Cell One 
Al Taqqadum, Iraq.

 

  
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